All The Pages That Are Torn and Frayed
by guttervomit
Summary: His best friend is being led down a path that could only mean disaster and Roxas has to decide whether he's going to be the knight in shining armour or let himself be torn apart by the chaos. Please R
1. Headphones and Offending Paper Missiles

All The Pages That Are Torn and Frayed  
by guttervomit

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom hearts, I'm just leeching the awesomeness.

Author's notes will be posted on profile.

Chapter One  
- Headphones and Offending Paper Missiles -

The beat of a comforting song blasted through a pair of sticker covered headphones and into a spiky haired boy's ear canal. A pen in his fingers tapped at a blank page in front of him while his other hand supported his head, numerous balls of scrunched up paper littering his desk and the floor around him.

Oblivious to a new presence in the room, the blonde frowned, a deep crease forming on his brow. Just as the tip of his pen touched the page in preparation of transferral of thoughts on to paper, he watched his pen being knocked out of his grasp and onto the floor by a paper ball.

Pulling back his head phones so they rested around his neck, the boy grabbed the offending paper missile and threw it at the tall man leaning against the doorframe, equally golden hair spiking out in a wilder fashion than his own.

"What the fuck, Cloud?" the teen burst out, voice drowning the music still flowing through the headphones. "I was just about to write down an idea and now it's gone."

The man just shrugged uninterestedly and held out a hand which was holding an open mobile phone. "Sora."

"Oh." The smaller blonde took the phone sheepishly.

Seeing as the other blonde had already turned and was heading back down the hall, the boy saw no reason in wasting his breath on an apology so instead he opted to lift the phone to his ear.

"Sora? Why did you call Cloud's phone?"

"Geez, Roxas! You have got to be the hardest person to get in contact with!" The boy's hesitant call was immediately replied with the gush of familiar voice and he couldn't help but let out a glimpse of a smile. "Have you lost your phone or something?"

"What do you mean?" Using his free hand, the boy patted down his pockets and then looking around his desk finally located his scratched and chipped phone under a mockingly large pile of scrunched up papers. The press of a button lit up the screen and revealed a total of seven missed calls and twice as many texts. "Oh. My bad."

"You're lucky I love you, Rox." The boy on the other end of the line teased. "Or otherwise I'd have to beat you up."

The blonde let out a small chuckle and leaned back in his chair, one arm resting over his eyes while the other continued to hold the phone to his ear.

"Yea, right. Like you could hurt anyone."

"I could too."

"Yea, yea." Roxas could just imagine the pout on the other boy's lips and smiled again. "So what did you want?"

"Well, you see…" The blonde waited as his friend hesitated. "I kinda forgot about the English assignment until just this arvo."

Roxas sighed. He should've known that this would've happened. "Sora, we've been reminded everyday since last week sometime. You should've done it by now."

"So you've done yours then?" A spark of interest was apparent on the other end of the call as the blonde's eyes flicked back to the blank page on the desk.

"Practically." The boy's lie slipping by unnoticed as his friend then began to beg him to help him with his own.

"Could you help me with mine then?" Roxas sighed as the pleading started. "Because you know I can never pay attention in boring English. I'll pay you back. Promise"

Just the thought of the boy's bright blue eyes widening and the bottom lip poking out had the decision already made for him.

"Fine. Just this once." Already slipping his own phone in his pocket and shoving his file back into his tattered messenger bag, the blonde started to head out his bedroom door. "I'll be there in a bit."

Flipping the phone shut, Roxas stepped into the lounge room and tossed the phone onto a couch where a pair sat leaning against each other, eyes on the television screen.

"I'm going to Sora's. I'll be back later." Opening the door, the blonde got a disinterested wave from Cloud and a smirk from his brunette companion.

"Remember to practice safe sex."

"I'm helping him with his homework, Leon." The blonde rolled his eyes and turned his back, cutting off any further remarks by slamming the door.

Dropping the chewed pen onto the now word filled pages of file paper in front of him, Roxas tried not to think about his own assignment which he was yet to start. With a yawn and a stretch, the blonde tiredly pushed himself out of the chair and headed out to the small kitchen in the next room.

There sitting on the bench was Sora, still endlessly chatting into the phone just as he had been when the blonde had first got there. Not even bothering to listen to the words that were dribbling out the brunette's mouth, the boy fished a glass out of a cupboard and filled it with soda from the fridge.

"You doing anything tomorrow night, Rox?" Sora asked, only waiting for the brow raise that said 'Are you fucking serious?' before his attention turned back to the phone. "Yea, we'll be there."

'Great.' Roxas thought to himself, discarding the glass in the sink and then heading over to lie on the couch and switch on the TV. 'I'm probably going to end up baby sitting or something.'

As the blonde flicked through the channels uninterestedly, he heard the now three and a half hour conversation come to an end before a mass of chocolaty hair obscured his vision and a weight on his body knocked the wind out of him.

"Fuck, Sora." Blinking to try and refocus his eyes, Roxas looked down at the boy that was now lying on top of him. "Are you_ ever_ going to grasp the concept of 'personal space'?"

"Shh." The brunette hushed him, a finger coming up to rest on his lips whiles his bright blue eyes stayed wide and glued to the screen. "My show's on."

"So where's this place we're supposed to be going to?"

Sora just shrugged at the blonde's question, smoothing down his shirt for the umpteenth time as they walked. "Riku knows and he's taking us so I guess that's all that matters."

'Unless I want to escape the torture that is partying and walk home.' Roxas huffed but kept his thoughts to himself, pulling his headphones over his ears and then shoving his hands in his pockets.

A couple of blocks later and the blonde found himself standing behind Sora as the boy pressed the doorbell on an unfortunately familiar door. Barely waiting for an answer, the scruffy haired brunette dug in the dirt of a pot plant near the door and pulled out a key which he used to let himself into the house.

"Rikuuu!"

Even with his earphones on, Roxas could hear Sora calling through the house like a lamb that had lost its mother. A moment was used to duck into the kitchen before the brunette bounded up the stairs, slowly followed by the blonde.

As he neared a bedroom door at the top of the flight of stairs, Roxas pulled off his earphones only to have music from a no doubt expensive sound system flood his ears. Stepping next to Sora, the blonde looked into the room, a tangle of limbs being seen on the bed.

He didn't even have to look at his friend to know that his expression would be one of disappointment so instead of being suckered in by the boy's look, Roxas grabbed a nearby abandoned shoe and ditched it at the current make out session.

Immediately the couple sprang apart, the burgundy haired girl turning away to fix her top while the silver haired boy just wiped his mouth unashamedly.

"Guess we got a little carried away." He smirked and Roxas rolled his eyes in disgust.

"No shit, Sherlock." Turning and grabbing a hold of the brunette's arm, the blonde headed back towards the stairs, yelling back at the boy still in the room. "We'll be waiting at the car. Hurry up."

"Wish I'd been that smart." Roxas mumbled to himself when his eyes stumbled across a blue haired boy sitting on a couch, completely absorbed in his book and oblivious to the drunken antics that were happening around him.

The blonde's mp3 had run out of power five minutes after arriving at the party and had since had to endure the full effects of his surroundings. Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, Roxas used all his energy to try and disintegrate everyone with his glaring eyes. To his irritation though, his efforts were wasted and the drunkards continued to stumble past, occasionally bumping into him on their way, spilling their drink on him.

"How you going, Rox?" A slurred voice sounded in the boy's ear, the obviousness of intoxication causing the blonde to rub a hand against his face.

"Swell." The boy sighed and turned to see Sora looking at him, wobbling even while using the support of the wall. "You?"

The broad smile stayed in place for a few moments and then began to falter, eyes welling up. "He's such a bastard!"

"Fucking hell." Roxas grimaced and looped an arm over the sobbing boy's shoulders before leading him to a couch. When he sat down, the blonde noticed the blue haired boy glaring at him, concentration on his literature being disturbed. "With any luck he'll fall asleep in a minute."

The blonde turned back to his friend and patted him on the back in what he presumed was a sympathetic manner.

"I mean like why doesn't he even like that bitch?" Sora grumbled, wiping his face with the back of one of his hands while the other one began to bring a cup up to his lips.

"I think you've had enough of that one, Sora." The blonde quickly grabbed the cup and moved it out of the brunette's reach, a look of confusion crossing the boy's face.

The look of confusion was only in place for a few moments though as a slender yet muscular body parked itself in front of him. "Hey, Sora. Could I talk to you for a minute?"

The eruption of anger and fury that Roxas had been so desperately hoping for from Sora was unfortunately substituted for the boy's usual broad smile and he hopped up and was led out of sight, leaving the blonde on the couch to grit his teeth.

"Great party, huh?" the blue haired boy commented from his seat beside Roxas, eye's not leaving the page.

Lifting the mostly full cup to his lips and letting the liquid slide down his throat, the blonde restrained himself from hurting anyone and instead crushed the plastic in his hand before flinging it to the ground.

"Fan-fucking-tastic."


	2. Hangover Remedies

**All The Pages That Are Torn and Frayed  
**by guttervomit

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I'm just leeching the awesomeness.

Author's notes will be posted on profile.

**Chapter Two  
**- Hangover Remedies -

Roxas looked up from his half written essay, the one he'd gotten for not handing in his last English essay, and noticed the scruffy brunette tardily stirring awake. Pulling off the headphones that had been drowning out Sora's snoring, the blonde closed his file and dropped it unceremoniously on the ground.

Immediately the brown haired boy sat bolt up right, eyes wide.

"Ow, fuck!" A hand was quickly brought to aid Sora's head, his eyes jammed shut and his mouth forming a grimace.

"Oh, sorry. Do you have a hangover?" The blonde's voice sounded vaguely concerned even while his face was void of all emotion.

No answer came however as the brunette stumbled out of his bed and through the nearby bathroom door. Roxas returned his headphones over his ears as a retching noise began to be heard and he slowly got up and headed towards it, a hand tiredly rubbing over his eyes.

"Are you sure that this will make me feel better?"

Roxas just nodded to the brunette as the walked down the street, own answer playing through his mind. 'You know another way to get rid of a hangover? Not consuming alcohol like it's oxygen.'

Rounding the corner, the blonde almost stopped in his tracks and walked back the other way. The only thing that stopped him was Sora grabbing his hand and dragging him across to the other side of the street, hangover miraculously disappearing for the moment.

Flying in through the door of the dinner, Sora pulled the blonde to a booth beside a window where a group of older teens were sitting.

"Hey, Riku!" The silver haired teen smirked and then motioned for the person next to him to move, allowing Sora to sit in his place.

Roxas just stood there for a few moments, taken aback at how quickly he had been forgotten. Though after a few seconds he realized he shouldn't be surprised and instead seated himself in the next booth.

A number of minutes past and Roxas remained unnoticed as he sat at the empty booth, a pile of empty sugar sachets growing as a nearby mound of sugar crystals did the same.

"Life of the party, I see."

Taking a little while to realize it was actually him that was being spoken to, Roxas finally looked up to find the blue haired boy from the night before. Slipping into the seat opposite him, the boy quirked a brow at the small heap of sugar in the centre of the table.

Not saying anything, the boy with ultramarine hair simply pulled out a pair of glasses from his jacket and then opening his book at a marked page.

More minutes of silence passed and the blonde finally ran out of sugar pouches, leaving him to stare out the window at the grey side walk.

"Roxas." He said by way of introduction.

"Zexion." The teen didn't even look up but instead just offered a hand which Roxas shook. Silence returned for a short while before it was disturbed by another teen which Zexion seemed intent on ignoring.

"Who's your new friend, Sexy Zexy?" The new arrival said, his golden hair styled in a sort of mullet, most of it gelled up to form a mohawk while a few wisps of his fringe fell into his mischievous blue eyes. Zexion frowned as the boy sat unnecessarily close to him, arm wrapping around his shoulder as he looked on at Roxas.

"Someone of better company than you desire to travel with, Demyx." The blue haired teen responded and the taller blonde's face showed his confusion for a few moments.

"Right..." Demyx rolled his eyes and his smirk returned. "Don't let him fool you. He really does love me."

"Like one would love cancer." Zexion mumbled and a look of mock hurt crossed the tallest boy's face, full attention on the boy who was still trying to read his novel.

"Oh, you cut me deep!" he feigned, hand clenching at the area of jacket that was over his heart.

Roxas was sure that if he were any other person then he would smile at their bickering and think it was cute. As it were, he wasn't someone else and at this point in time he was finding it hard not to gag at the sight before him and the obvious flirting that could be heard from the next booth.

"Nice to meet you." he muttered as he slipped out of the booth and headed to the exit of the diner, half expecting a shout of his name to come when he passed Sora but it never came. Anger growing, Roxas took little notice to who he shoved passed as he pushed through the doorway, a few shouts of protest being heard as he headed back down the street.

"Hey, I noticed you left the diner before me."

'Only took you a few hours.' Roxas thought dryly, sparing little attention to the phone that he had jammed between his ear and shoulder as he mashed at the buttons of a games controller, eyes glued to a flashing screen.

"Yea." If the blonde wasn't concentrating on the hordes of zombies on the screen in front of him he may have expected an apology that wasn't coming. Fortunately for him the endless supply of pixelised undead remained endless.

"Mind if I come over?"

"Sure."

After the line cut out, Roxas simply let the phone fall to the ground.

"Rox!" No response. "Roxas!" Heavy footsteps grew rapidly closer until they were in the same room as the small blonde. "For fucks sake, Roxas. The doorbell has been ringing for five fucking minutes." A half clothed Cloud angrily unlocked the deadlock and ripped open the door to reveal Sora who was reaching for the doorbell again.

Roxas barely heard the other blonde as he cursed under his breath some more and stormed back to his bedroom, leaving the door open for Sora to let himself in which he did. Closing the door behind him, the brunette sat himself behind Roxas, arms wrapping around his waist as his chin rested on his shoulder.

"What you doing?" Sora asked.

"Shooting zombies." The blonde replied even though it was quite really obvious.

"Cool." A few minutes of speechlessness, room only being filled with the constant blast of gunfire and the occasional groan of a zombie. "Can I stay here tonight?"

Roxas nodded and permitted his eyes to look away from the television screen to glance at his friend and give him a small smile.

"Why do you even come?"

Roxas found himself once again sitting on a couch in the corner of a room of a house of some stranger, drunken people stumbling around in front of him.

"Because I find enjoyment in torturing myself." The blonde responded flatly. "You?"

"Because I'd rather be here than back at my room where I would have to listen to my roommate have sex with yet another whore."

"Fair enough." Roxas nodded, watching as a familiar blonde mohawked teen tripped into the room, eyes searching the crowd until they locked onto the couch and he began to head for it. "Uh... Incoming?"

Zexion looked up at Roxas and then to where he was looking. Letting out an agitated growl, the blue haired boy closed his book and returned his glasses to their case just as Demyx plonked himself on the couch between the two boys.

"What do you want, Demyx?" Zexion asked, holding the blonde up as he began to lean on him heavily.

"Stop being so antisocial, you bookworm." The tallest boy complained. "Come out and hang with the guys. And bring your friend too." A thumb was jerked in Roxas' direction and the blonde went to protest but was ignored.

"And what if I don't?" Zexion challenged, a frown set on his features.

"Then I'll just have to pick you up and carry you." Demyx shrugged, a smug smile on his face. "You know I will."

The blue haired boy rolled his eyes in annoyance but stood, book tucked under his arm. "Fine."

Demyx punched the air in victory and then got to his feet. Roxas sighed in relief as he thought he was about to be left behind but unfortunately the taller blonde turned back around and grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

"Come on, Blondie."

"I bring forth gifts!" Demyx yelled, pulling forward both Roxas and Zexion. Stumbling slightly, the short blonde straightened himself and stared at the group of older people that he'd been produced to.

"Zexion!" A shout came from a long, pink haired boy. "Didn't even notice you were here!"

"That was the plan…" Roxas heard Zexion mutter before he headed over to a free seat, leaving the blonde to stand alone like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Who's the blonde, Dem?" Another voice called, this time from the crimson haired teen.

"Dunno." Demyx shrugged as he sat down in a chair next to Zexion. "Just thought he was cute."

The glare that was shot at him by Roxas went unnoticed as he dug through his pockets and managed to retrieve a pack of cigarettes.

"Come sit down, Blondie." The red head called again, hand gesturing to a spare chair next to his.

"It's not 'Blondie'." Roxas said but made his way to the chair anyway. "It's Roxas."

"Axel." The vibrant haired teen said, catching the pack of cigarettes that Demyx had thrown him and taking one out to place between his lips. "Got it memorized?"

The blonde just looked at him uninterestedly and then down at the pack that was being offered to him. He was about to decline when he heard a crash and turned to see a pair stumble out of the house. One brunette, one silver haired, both with hands all over each other.

"Sure." The blonde tore his gaze away from the pair and his fingers pulled a slim cigarette from the pack, placing it between his own lips as Axel lit his cigarette and then leaned over to do the same to the blonde's.

Leaning back in the plain plastic chair, Roxas took a long drag and let the smoke fill his lungs. His small moment of peace was quickly interrupted however by the boy on the other side of him, the one with the rose coloured hair.

"I do not think I've seen someone enjoy a smoke that much."

Roxas opened his eyes and looked at the boy on his left and then to Axel on his right, both of them staring at him oddly.

The blonde focused his gaze on the smouldering stick in his hand. "It's been a while."


End file.
